Chef factory 1963, fun modern from Theodore Berman.

Chef factory 1963, fun modern from Theodore Berman.

8 January 2019 The excellent #CraigAndSeeley factory offices in #Brunswick, built in 1963, designed by #TheodoreBerman, one of the mostly Jewish postwar #EmigreArchitects (or @othermoderns). Love it, all that colours! Intense green, patterned, and bright red, over black and white (incl white mosaic tiles on the columns). C&S made Chef brand stoves, taking over from … Continue reading Chef factory 1963, fun modern from Theodore Berman.

Fire Station Modern

Fire Station Modern

#BrunswickFireStation, 1937, designed by #SeabrookandFildes, who did a few around town but this is the best. They got famous for introducing a bricky brand of European Modernism in 1934 with #NormanSeabrook’s design for #MacrobertsonGirlsHigh. This is bit more #ArtDeco by comparison, but very stripped back and rectangular. Thanks as usual to Grant for the drive … Continue reading Fire Station Modern

Jobbin’s best Bank, Racecourse Road.

Jobbin’s best Bank, Racecourse Road.

Excellent bank in Racecourse Road #Flemington by #GeorgeJobbins from 1889 for the #ColonialBankofAustralasia; his most elaborate, in fact one of the most elaborate banks from the time - banks were often very restrained compared to the #HighVictorian madness going on around them in the 1880s. Great details such as the delicate #ioniccapitals and the little … Continue reading Jobbin’s best Bank, Racecourse Road.

Front portion preservation

Front portion preservation

There’s a lot of #frontportionism in #DorcasStreet, #SouthMelbourne near the market. This is my ideal kind of compromise, keeping a good chunk of the old, the new doesn’t overly #dominate. Though maybe it does a bit given these two are on corners. And the second one unfortunately includes a lower not to the left that … Continue reading Front portion preservation

Tudor style house called Tudor House by John Beswicke 1883

Tudor style house called Tudor House by John Beswicke 1883

IRepost 2019: Everymans home is his Tudory castle. Built in Pasco Street, Williamstown, in 1883, this impressive house was designed by #JohnBeswicke, and it’s one of the best things he did. Also quite unusual for the 1880s, when nearly everything was elaborate #Italianate, or polychrome brick- this is chaste by comparison. It’s called #TudorHouse (surprise … Continue reading Tudor style house called Tudor House by John Beswicke 1883

Percy Everett in Willy

Percy Everett in Willy

Lunch in #Williamstown, so had to have a look at #PercyEverett’s addition to #WilliamstownHighSchool, and excellent as always, looking like a superior 1930s office block almost, but it’s actually 1948 - Percy seems to have ignored modernism almost completely (#RobinBoyd etc must have been shaking their heads in disbelief). But it’s very nice, well built … Continue reading Percy Everett in Willy

Tallest shop top in Melbourne ?

Tallest shop top in Melbourne ?

#FabulousFacade to a shop in #ChapelStreetPrahran, so vertical and spiky, with lashings of #ArtNouveau; sadly some of the (red?) tiles falling off, the rest painted out beige. Can’t find much about it, but looks c1910; in 1905-8 there was an #OysterSaloon, raided for gambling, and for “horribly offensive” oysters (!), then by 1912 it was … Continue reading Tallest shop top in Melbourne ?

More Mock Tudor in Toorak

More Mock Tudor in Toorak

#Picturesque but actually #symmetrical - the 1934 #MockTudor shops on the corner of Toorak Road and Grange Road. Designed by Leslie Reed (not #RobertBellHamilton as previously thought), they were built in front a Victorian house, you can see the chimneys round the side, where they just plastered the walls with #halftimbering. The front much more … Continue reading More Mock Tudor in Toorak

Neoclassical Colosseum, another Tompkins & Tompkins.

Neoclassical Colosseum, another Tompkins & Tompkins.

This grand edifice in #ChapelStreetPrahran was built as the Colosseum Department Store in 1914, after a fire destroyed their previous shop built just 6 years previously. Designed by #TompkinsandTompkins it’s pretty much a copy of London’s Selfridges, completed only 5 years before (complete with flags!), designed by US architect #DanielBurnham. This was the earliest large … Continue reading Neoclassical Colosseum, another Tompkins & Tompkins.

Michaels Camera Store, a 4th generation business.

Michaels Camera Store, a 4th generation business.

#MichaelsBuilding, cnr Lonsdale & Elizabeth, 1916, think we learned about this in architectural history classes - it’s earlyish #ReinforcedConcrete, a fave subject of Prof Miles Lewis, and allowed the extensive seemingly unsupported windows (the supports are hidden at the inside corners). Great little building. By #ArthurPurnell, a prolific architect best known for his few Chinese … Continue reading Michaels Camera Store, a 4th generation business.